1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in embroidery (quilting) frames for making quilts or similar cloth or fabric articles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Quilting frames have been in use for hundreds of years. Usually the frame in the form of an adjustable rectangle is entirely horizontal and supported by four legs about 30 inches from the floor.
Also, some quilters, back in the days when curtain stretchers were a common household item, fastened their quilts to a curtain stretcher, using the stretcher as a quilting frame. In more recent years another common form of quilting frame has been an enlarged "embroidery hoop" in the shape of an oval or large circle.
Any and all of these traditional forms of quilting frames have the disadvantage of taking up a lot of room space, with the exception of the hoop, and the disadvantages of the hoop are that only a small portion of the quilt can be stretched for quilting at one time, and then it requires either a cumbersome stand to hold it, or the quilter is obliged to hold it on the lap while quilting.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,318,877 J. J. Meyer and F. A. Jones, disclose a collapsible horizontal quilting frame.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,215, I. Marchbank discloses a framed textile fabric assembly for use in embroidery.
Neither of these patents individually or together disclose the present invention.
The present invention overcomes the problems cited above by having a vertical quilting frame (free-standing or attached to a wall) so that the progress of the quilting is always on display, and a minimum of useful floor space in a room is required, and is optionally mobile.
It is desirable to have a frame for use in which a vertical dimension is used for storage of the quilt while having a small horizontal work area.